Mead Treadwell on Gun Control

Address school shootings with national mental health push

My earliest memory of Sandy Hook Elementary School was arriving there 50 years ago as a transfer student in the second grade. The tragic, shocking news from Newtown reached me in Alaska last December, as my Mom--who had been a volunteer librarian there--
had just arrived for Christmas.

I link Newtown to the challenge of suicide we face in Alaska, where communities and caregivers are coming together to fight an epidemic of the worst young suicide rates in the nation. It is an epidemic that has taken
thousands of lives and too often, other innocents with them.

Let us strive together to find help for those people who are detached from our community. Mental health professionals tell us that many people contemplate suicide, that it is often rooted in
trauma and depression.

We need a national, community-based approach to push for widespread mental health first aid training, so people can recognize and respond to trauma and depression before it turns to despair, self-destruction, murder and suicide.

Law-abiding citizens have the right to keep and bear arms

The Second Amendment protects our right to self-defense. Law-abiding citizens have the right to keep and bear arms, plain and simple. I will defend the right for Alaskans to defend their families and their homes.
The U.S. Senate Majority today is working to erode our Second Amendment rights and Mark Begich supports their leadership. I will oppose all efforts to water down the Second Amendment.